Guadalajara 2016 - No Cars Allowed

On Sundays Guadalajara, like several other large Mexican cities, closes some of it's streets to vehicular traffic. The population walks, jogs, skateboards and bikes down avenues choked with traffic every other day of the week. In Merida this tradition results in a party air complete with musicians and dancing, literally, in the streets. In Guadalajara it conveys a feeling of the citizens exhibiting an air of freedom of movement, despite them being stopped at corners occasionally so that cross traffic can make it's way past the vast numbers of people enjoying an afternoon of activity untethered by cars and buses. As I walk through the historical core of the city I passed another hotel as venerable as mine, each of it's ground floor windows graced by caged tropical birds. I stopped in a store thinking I might purchase a suit for my new job, coming up empty handed. I took a photo of another stores long entryway. Vivid gowns with 4 foot wide skirts in colors not generally found in nature were displayed on manequins along one wall. One was barebreasted, clad only in a bright green bell shaped skirt. My mind reeled. I posted the photo on Facebook. People streamed past me and churchbells rang as I continued to my hotel to pack and prepare for my trip home.